


Juno Steel and the Quiet Night In

by iimpavid, scarebeast



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Pillow & Blanket Forts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 10:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16993539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iimpavid/pseuds/iimpavid, https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarebeast/pseuds/scarebeast
Summary: Rita's decided that the boss needs to take a break and builds a pillow fort in the office.That's it, that's the fic.





	Juno Steel and the Quiet Night In

**Author's Note:**

> A little unbeta'd thing that turned out cute enough to share.

With great precision and a small flourish, Rita tucked the last sheet into place. The Juno Steel Detective Agency's main office was, in a word, _transformed_.

In the span of a couple hours she'd elevated it from dreary drudgery, dusty drudgery into a blanket fort Frannie's nieces might be proud to defend against dragon and space pirates. A futon mattress, dozens of pillows, layer after layer of blanket. Fully stocked, too, with the latest episodes of _CSI: Halcyon_ set up for binge-streaming (Mr. Steel would never admit it but Rita knew, _she knew,_ he loved watching those procedurals even if he did spend the whole time complaining about realism); her four-tiered nail-polish box; a smorgasbord of chocolate-covered beets, flavored popcorns, fresh pizza from Inky's, gummy sour space squids; and a pair of face masks imported straight from Noachis just begging to give their faces a reprieve from the harsh, dry climate of the city.

All that was missing was Mr. Steel.

Rita drummed her nails absently on top of the filing cabinet while her comms rang -- fast but not too violently. She didn't want to disturb Patty the Pothos. She'd migrated their office plant's weight ceramic planter to the top of it; it was critical for holding one corner of the fort in place. Patty looked great dripping in fairy lights.

The line picked up and she knew she couldn't let Mr. Steel get a word in edgewise. She inhaled a sharp breath and the show was on: "Mistah Steel! Mistah Steel, where are you? You gotta get back to the office quick! I know you're busy and I tried to tell 'em, boss, see, I said ' _Mistah Steel's not here right now, fellas, you might wanna take those lasers somewhere else_ ' and Mistah Steel! They're real insistent on talkin' to you in person anyway!"

“ _What_?” Juno turned and headed back to the street corner, flagging down a cab. The only thing he had really caught was lasers and the implication of them being pointed at his secretary, and that was really all he needed. “Rita, don’t say anything else to them until I get there. Tell them I’m on my way.”

The robotic driver wasn’t too pleased about being yelled at to go faster, but Juno was pretty sure they made it back to the office in record time. His current case could wait, just a simple cheater. Rita couldn’t.

As soon as Juno fling the office door open, he groaned and turned right around to leave again.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Rita planted herself firmly between Mr. Steel and the exit. It took some doing what with him taking maybe half a look at her laboriously-constructed office fort and turning on his heel. Still, she managed it and planted her fists on her hips with all the confidence of a woman who would not be moved. “You ain’t taken a vacation in three years, Mistah Steel! Three years! Its time you took a night off and did somethin’ nice for yourself that wasn’t picklin’ your liver and I know you, you weren’t never gonna do that under your own volition and I’m sorry I lied, boss, that wasn’t right-- but I had to step in! You’re runnin’ yourself ragged! And besides! You’re five whole seasons behind on CSI: Halcyon, boss, and if you don’t find out all about Forensic Specialist Utena’s tragic backstory you’re never gonna forgive me!”

Juno hesitated. It was a cold night, and all he had really been doing was trailing his mark to the grocery store and back. Cheaters didn't only cheat once, so. Really, he could indulge Rita for a night. Just so she'd leave him alone and stop shouting about vacations. "Okay. I guess. But just for a few hours, Rita."

“Don’t you worry, boss, I’ll set a timer and everything.” She made a show of setting her alarm-- never mind the fact that her comms was on silent. “C’mon, I got this new nail polish, it’s called Martian Dunecrawler Chrome and I think you’re gonna love it.”


End file.
